joe laur, at opportunity green 2009
DESCRIPTION
Joe Laur, at Opportunity Green 2009TRANSCRIPT
Increasing leverage and learning
Policies Processes Procedures
Perceptions
Seven Benefits of Leading in aRegenerative Economy
1. There is significant money to be saved. Interface, Xerox 2. There is significant money to be made. Xerox, Toyota, GMCR3. You can provide your customers with a competitive edge.
Anvil/Nike4. Sustainability is a point of differentiation. Interface, BP,7th Gen5. You can shape the future of your industry. BP, Plug Power6. You can become a preferred supplier. Plug Power7. You can change your image and brand. Nike
Companies in every industry can successfully remake their reputations and brands through serious investments in
environmental initiatives.
Our Future• Reduce aggregate consumption.• Invest in the regeneration of living, social and
natural capital, the foundation of all real wealth.• Accelerate social innovations, adaptation and
learning by nurturing cultural diversity.• Reverse the “short-termism” that dominates capital
markets and many business decisions.• Increase long-term economic performance through
governance systems that promote collaborative stewardship of social, natural and intellectual capital.
Systems Thinking
A process for collective inquiry, which uncovers & helps people to see:
• Wholes rather than parts
• Interrelationships rather than things
• Interdependencies (circular causality) rather than linear cause & effect chains
• Processes of change (patterns) rather than snapshots
Systems Thinking
Value of Systems Thinking
• Surface assumptions which drive our actions.
• Learn about the consequences of our actions both intended and unintended over time.
• Increase our capacity for holding apparent opposites.
• Discover critical interfaces & leverage
• Builds shared understanding of complex issues which is critical for commitment and collaboration.
When to ApplySystems Thinking
Systems Thinking and Systems Sensing are useful when:
• Complex issues arise• Multiple points of view (typically different) need to be understood• Collaboration across traditional boundaries is desired• Desire exists to understand critical factors that lead to sustainable
growth• Repeated attempts have been made to solve an issue and it defies
solution (chronic)
“Sustainable development” and these emerging practices can reduce
unsustainability, BUTReducing
unsustainability does not equate to creating
sustainability
e.g. recyclable and recycling do not mean regenerative, resilient,
closed loop , sustainable!
Competence and attentiondecline (S-t-B)
The solution becomes the problem. (Addiction) R1
Sideeffect
S
S
B2
S
O Delay
O
Symptomaticsolution
Problemsymptom
S
B1
Fundamentalsolution
There’s More to the Story
R1
Slow erosion of resources,
delay of fundamental action
S
S
Reducing Unsustainability Does Not Produce Sustainability
Sustainability Path- e.g. true
closed loop, driven by
renewables
SustainableDevelopment
Path e.g. recycling
B2
S
O Delay
O
Eco-efficiency
Unsustainability
S
B1
Industrialecology
Competence and attentiondecline (S-t-B)
The solution becomes the problem. (Addiction) R1
False sense of solution, delay while resources erode,
lack of demand, market
S
S
B2
S
O Delay
O
Recyclable, recycling,One way street
Resource depletion,Waste accumulation
S
B1
Closed Loop,Consumer is supplier
There’s More to the Story